Medicine: Snakes, Alcohol

Prohibitionists were delighted, anti's were disgusted, last week, to learn that a poisonous snake bite should not be followed by a powerful alcoholic drink. Dr. Afrania do Amaral, director of the snake serum institute at Butantan, Brazil, declared that far from being a remedy ". . . alcoholic liquors are harmful to persons bitten by venomous snakes." The alcohol acts first as a stimulant, speeding up the circulation, quickly distributing the poison through the body. When the effect wears off it becomes a depressant, lowering the victim's resistance, hindering him from using...

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